Free music gigs to kickstart country communities

With restrictions on public gatherings cautiously easing, local band The Phrase Noise Offensive are planning a series of free gigs aimed at helping small country towns get back on their feet.

Years of drought, followed by a summer of intense heat, massive dust storms, devastating bushfires and now a global pandemic have stifled local economies — just as the seasons looked to have turned a corner.

But the Phrase Noise Offensive — Geoff Buss, Steven Davis, Mark Tiernan and Dane Parker — plan to bring a little life back into some of these small communities

“It's to try and get people back into the place, to spend their money on the ground,” said Steven Davis, better known as Rocket.

The band had previously talked about doing a drought fundraising tour but now they hope their "Bringing it back to the Bush Tour" can support businesses in these small towns.

“A lot of the bigger charities aren't getting to these places you know, so we thought we'd give these guys a kick start,” said Rocket.

The Band have lined up sponsorship for the tour, which will pay for a T-shirt, hats and drink coolers to be given away. The rest of the money will be distributed as lucky door prizes to people in attendance in the form of gift vouchers to be spent at local businesses.

“We've got three sponsors onboard at that moment, and three in the wings, and we haven't really been canvassing a lot, it’s just been conversations like this and somebody will say, I'll give you $500 a show… So we've already got enough to get some money on the ground, but if any other sponsors want to come on board we are happy to accommodate them too” said Rocket.

“It will be a great little kick along for these places. The money will be shared equally between the towns and we'll probably do a voucher draw during the shows.”

The first of the three free shows will take place in Tullamore on Saturday 17 September, followed by Tomingley on 17 October, but then the tour will finish with a mystery gig on Saturday 14 November.

“We've got two venues tied in, but we decided on a bit of a comp for people to say why they want us to come and play on that final Saturday. They've just got to contact us through Facebook and send in a two-minute video to say why they’d like us to come and play in their town,” said Rocket.

The competition for entries opens on June 1 and the winning venue for the final show will be drawn live on Facebook on 27 June.

“We are also hoping that the submissions are fairly creative in promoting their town,” added fellow band member Mark Tiernan.

“Tell us all why your town is a really great place to go we can then promote it, share it and encourage people to come out and maybe book a room and see it.

“The only proviso we're putting on it,” said Rocket, “Is we get accommodation, some drinks and a feed and the venue is an all-weather venue. But then we’ll be there to play, we'll take T-shirts for the bar staff, have some hats and stubby coolers to give away and we'll put money on the ground!”

Of course, the gigs going ahead will be dependent on what social distancing requirements are in place at the time, but with some light now visible at the end of the tunnel the band is hoping to bring a bit of fun to these towns along with a little cash injection.

“Yeah, it’s not just the financial input, although that's a big part of it,” said Geoff ‘Bussy’ Buss. “We want people to go to those towns, but more than that it is about lifting the morale and getting people happy and excited about something again. There’s a lot of people, especially in country areas, that are susceptible to depression, so we are just trying to lift everyone’s' spirits.”

“It will be a morale booster and positive thing for the town on that day,” said Rocket. “People can come in and have a good night, and hopefully kick into a good summer!”

To enter the competition or contact The Phrase Noise Offensive, you can find them on Facebook.